The Show Must Go On
by Brentinator
Summary: We all know how Barnum made his circus famous. But now he handed it over to Philip and the show must go on. Along with the circus, what happens between Philip and Anne? Collab with Aliqueen16!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is a collab between me and my friend, Aliqueen16!**

 **We haven't done one in awhile, not since our one shot series, and while we've tried, most of them have been deleted for lack of inspiration.**

 **I watched The Greatest Showman on Sunday for my sister's birthday, and I LOVED it. And I don't normally like musicals, so... XD**

 **I hope you enjoy this story! I tried to make it as historically accurate as possible, cause I'm the need who feels like that's important XD**

 **And now, on with the story!**

Philllp's POV

I shrugged my mulberry frock coat on over my white shirt, and adjusted the sleeves while looking in the mirror.

After a full year of seeing Anne, we had finally reached out wedding day, and even though several people disapproved, all I needed was the approval of Anne's brother, as he was her last living relative, which I got as soon as I asked to marry her.

W.D. had been working non stop to make this day perfect for Anne, with the help of Charity, and I couldn't be more overjoyed that I was finally gonna marry the love of my life.

I tucked the spring of small blossoms into my coat front before waiting to go into the main room where the ceremony would be taking place.

While I knew that Anne had been anxious about the whole thing, I was over the moon to continue my life with her.

••••••••••••

Everyone was in the main room, waiting for the ceremony to start, and I was standing beside the priest near the fireplace, when everyone turned their heads to the doorway, and saw Helen showering the room in flower petals, before standing beside her mother.

Then W.D came in with Anne on his arm, and I was shocked.

Anne was in a pale pink dress with green lace, and her white veil was being supported by a pink blossom flower crown.

She was gorgeous, even if everyone thought she wasn't good enough, I sure did.

W.D. let her go, and whispered "take care of her" in my ear before sitting down, and the priest started.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the holy matrimony of Phillip Carlyle and Anne Wheeler. Do you, Phillip Carlyle, take this woman to be your wife, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

I smiled at my bride under her veil, and gazed into her brown eyes as I uttered the words. "I do."

"And do you, Anne Wheeler, take this man to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." I could see her lips move under the veil, smiling the whole time, not regretting anything at all.

"Then, under the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I now pronounce you Mr. And Mrs. Carlyle, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

I lifted the veil up and over, finally seeing her full face, gently put my hand on her cheeks, and put my lips on hers, hearing everyone cheer and clap.

"I love you." I whispered, running my hand through her hair, leaning in to kiss her again.

"I love you too." She smiled as we finished the kiss when a loud commotion started coming from outside.

"Stay here. I'll go see what it is." Phineas said, as he opened the door, to see thousands of people starting to light the house on fire. "Everyone out!"

We all ran out the back door, just in time to see Anne's and W.D's house be engulfed by the flames, and Anne clinging to me, starting to cry.


	2. Chapter 2

Philips's pov

I was livid as my now wife shook in my arms. I all but growled " Who did this?"

They all stuttered and looked around, trying to answer, but I beat them to it "I should have known. My own parents.

I quickly found them and went over to them in a stage of pure fury "Why would you do this?"

My mother sneered in almost disgust "Because you married someone of her... kind."I

Somehow keeping my cool, I replied "I LOVE Anne, mother. Can't you see these barriers you're putting up need to be broken and taken down? For the greater good? She's your daughter now!"

She shook her head " No. I will not consider her family. You, however; are no longer my son as long as you are together."

Anger cursing through my veins, I seethed " Then I'll never be your son. Keep your riches and status, mother. Oh, wait. I guess you're not a mother anymore. And I will be pressing charges for trespassing, harassment and property damage."


	3. Chapter 3

Anne's POV.

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Charity." I smiled politely as she led Philip and I to our room, up the spiral staircase after she had done the same with W.D.

"It's the least we could do for you and your family, Anne." She smiled before it quickly turned to anger, a look I had rarely seen her make. "I can't believe they would do that to you."

"They've always been like that, Charity." Philip insisted, putting his hand on my shoulder. "But, Barnum is going with me to the courthouse to see what we can do about it."

"Well, I hope justice is served." She stated as we reached the top of the staircase and she opened the door. "I'm sorry it's a bit small."

"No, it's perfect. Thank you so much." Philip insisted, but I zoned out looking around the gorgeous room.

In the room, there was a large bed with floral bedding and a dark brown headrest, and near the doors were two dressing rooms, as well as a door that led to the guest bathroom. The floor was a dark brown hardwood that matched the headrest and the walls were white. There was a large vanity near the left side of the bed, and a rocking chair.

"This is gorgeous, Charity." I insisted, opening the closet and seeing several outfits.

"I knew all you had from the fire was your wedding dress, so I put some more outfits in your closet for you. I don't know if they'll fit, though."

"Thank you so much." Philip smiled gratefully at her, and she smiled softly.

"You are very welcome. Dinner is in two hours." She said, before leaving the room.

I took down my hair, letting it cascade down my shoulders as I was about to start changing when Philip walked over to me, running his hand through my hair with a smile on his face.

"You look gorgeous."

"I'm in my wedding gown and smell like smoke." I laughed, leaning into his touch.

"You are beautiful, no matter what." He insisted, before kissing me softly, his hands going from my face to my hips, picking me up and laying me on the bed. "We haven't gotten our honeymoon yet."


	4. Chapter 4

**So after we got a bit stuck, I wrote this chapter for Aliqueen16, but the next chapter is hers! And if you whump, then we're to that point :)**

Phineas' POV

"I cannot believe they had the nerve!" Was Phillip's outburst as he broke the silence on the way to the courthouse the next morning.

From what I had been told, he hadn't slept well that night, being plagued by visions of the fire at the circus and at W.D and Anne's house, and had been up since early that morning, pacing and getting air.

I didn't want to mention anything to him, but if he wanted to talk about it, then I wasn't going to shy away.

"We're going to get this sorted, Phillip. We'll deal with them, get your house fixed, and it'll be okay."

"I sure hope so." He sighed, pushing his hands into his pockets, and started to walk in front of me, and I followed behind in silence, not wanting to push him further.

•••••••••••••

"They burned down their house because she looks different to them! There has to be something you can do." Phillip pleaded with the judge, who was overlooking his papers, barely batting a eye at us, and responded.

"Look, I'll look over your case, but I can't promise anything."

I could feel Phillip fuming as he glared at the judge, so I stepped in, putting my hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing it.

"Thank you, sir."

He nodded, and the two of us walked out, my hand still on his shoulder, as the brisk fall wind blew against us.

His skin seemed to be aflame, and not just by anger. He was burning up with a fever!

"Phillip? Are you feeling alright?" I asked quietly as I rubbed his shoulder again, ready to steady him if needed.

"Fine. I'm fine." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes.

"Alright." I said, knowing that with Charity around, he wouldn't be able to hide whatever was going on for long. "We should head home."

He nodded, and the two of us walked back to the house, my hand still on his shoulder, feeling the heat and slight trembles coming from him, despite the strong front.

When we walked inside, Caroline and Helen were on the floor, playing with W.D., but both stood up to run over and hug me tightly.

"You two having fun?" I asked, kissing their foreheads and ruffling their hair.

"Yeah! W.D and Anne have been playing with us since you left this morning." Caroline grinned, but Helen gently squeezed Phillip's hand, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

"You look sad."

"I'm okay." Phillip insisted, gently ruffling her hair before resting his hand on a chair, his eyes slightly glassy.

I gently pushed the girls to keep playing with W.D, and then proceeded to find Charity in the kitchen, talking to one of the chefs about lunch.

She dismissed the chef shortly after she and I made eye contact, before coming and kissing me.

"How did it go at the courthouse?" She asked, taking my hat off my head.

"The judge said he would look it over, but, we have a bigger issue. Phillip is coming down with something."

"Any idea?" Charity questioned, peering into the hall for a second before returning her gaze to me.

"No, I just know he has a fever and chills."

She nodded, but before she could respond, we both heard a dull thud and two sets of screams from our daughters.

We looked each other in the eyes, and ran toward the main room, and that's when we saw the sight that caused the screams.

Phillip was laying on the floor, unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

Charity's POV

I gently squeezed Philip's hand while holding a cold cloth against his burning forehead, trying to bring down the fever, even just a little bit, biting my lip as I saw the small red dots appearing on his skin, which meant one of two things. One, it was chicken pox, which would eventually go away on it's own, or it was smallpox, which was easily spreadable and contagious. But considering that he hadn't vomited yet, I was hopeful that it was the former.

Philip let out a small groan as she moved the cloth to his right cheek, the coolness being a shock against his skin, and that's when I heard a knock on the door frame.

I turned, smiling sympathetically as Anne, who looked down at her husband, worry filling her eyes as she spoke, having clearly been crying before then. "How is he?"

"I'm remaining optimistic. He hasn't vomited that I know of, so I don't think it's smallpox, but we should keep as few people as coming in here as possible. Try and keep it to this room." I explained, moving the cloth to his left cheek, and he let out another groan.

Anne nodded, but she didn't leave, rather, she stayed by the door frame, watching him with careful eyes, and I knew she couldn't do anything about it, so I turned back to the young woman. "Why don't you sit with him while we wait for Doctor Keaton?"

She nodded, and I stood up, handing the cloth to Anne before exiting the room and went down the stairs to my own husband.

Anne's POV

I sat down in the chair Charity had been sitting in, and held Philip's right hand with my left, using my right to rotate the cloth like I had observed, but just like before, the only thing I got was small groans and whimpers.

•••••••••••

"You have nothing to worry about." Doctor Keaton, who was mostly on call for the Barnum family for their daughters, insisted a hour later as he examined Phillip, who was now awake, turning back to me and the Barnums. "He has the chicken pox, which, yes, has very similar symptoms to smallpox, but he isn't vomiting or has sores in his mouth, so he's in the clear. It's chicken pox."

"How is it treated?" I asked, squeezing my husband's hand gently, glancing at his blue eyes before turning back to the doctor.

"There are herbal remedies, Mrs. Carlyle, but they don't do much. His best option is to just let it run it's course and don't let his fever get too high. It's best if the children stay away as well. While it isn't deadly, it is still highly contagious."

"Thank you, Doctor Keaton." Charity smiled in appreciation, and both of them went downstairs, Phineas following shortly after, leaving the newlyweds in the guest suite together.

"You're gonna be okay, love." I insisted, wringing the cloth out over the small bowl P.T had brought upstairs after getting the girls situated. "This isn't the worse thing we've been through."


	6. Chapter 6

(Hey, guys. This is Ali. It's my fault y'all had to wait so long for this chapter. Sorry, life does not know how I prioritize and got in the way- a LOT.)

Anne's POV

For the past few days I had not been feeling quite myself. In the beginning, I attributed it to my darling, beloved Philip, who was on the mend; but still recovering physically and mentally.

My nights were oft plagued with flashbacks and vivid memories of the illness my husband was fighting, and the dreary thought of him being torn away from me despite his recovering state was enough to make me renounce sleep for that night. And the one after it. And the one after that one... well, you got the point.

But, it would seem that the better Philip got, the more my state worsened. It would now seem what I had mistaken for suffering of love is not that, but a product of love indeed. I slowly rose from my bed in my chamber and crossed the beautiful hallway floor to Charity's room, deciding I needed to talk to the kind woman and seek her help and guidance once more; as she was more of a mother to me than my own.

I hesitantly knocked on her chamber door and asked. "Charity, may I please come in?"

At once, her melodious and warm voice filled my ears, her smile detectable through the door.

"Of course, my dear. Are you alright?" she added that last inquiry after searching my worried, and admittedly a bit pale face. I was divided. I entered the room, seeing Charity working on a complicated embroidery project as I sat down in the wooden chair facing her.

Even before I could say this was a fact and not just a suspicion; one part of me was ecstatic and the other a bundle of nerves. Even with Charity by my side, I could not bear to face this, to experience this, without my husband. Charity brought me out of my increasingly dark thoughts

"Are you alright, Anne? What seems to be the matter? Philip will be just fine."

Hoping and praying she was right, I spoke; not above a whisper. "Charity, I do believe I am with child."


End file.
